Now a regular feature in the early Autumn calendar, Music in Monkstown brings a wealth of chamber music to the south Dublin suburb, taking advantage of the superb acoustic of Monkstown Parish Church. The festival runs through the long weekend of 5-8 September. In its sixth year, the event was the idea of clarinettist, conductor, and local resident, John Finucane, who takes an active part both on and off stage.

John Finucane

This year’s programme features concerts by the Sacconi String Quartet, pianist Hugh Tinney, flautist Amy Gillen (Irish Freemasons Young Musician of the Year), and two groups of Irish musicians: four members of the National Symphony Orchestra make up the National Chamber Ensemble, playing Saturday, while a newly-formed Baroque ensemble—Ceybele’s Flutes (including 2016 PlecPick Miriam Kaczor)—perform on Sunday.

Highlights will include Hugh Tinney, performing well-known works by Beethoven and Chopin alongside music written for him by the Irish composer Raymond Deane, and the two concerts given by the Sacconi Quartet, for which they are joined by John Finucane on Saturday for the Mozart Clarinet Quintet, and pianist Emma Abbate on Sunday for Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet in E-flat. Added to this, the weekend also features the Jiani Guzheng Ensemble, playing traditional Chinese instruments and, on the Sunday morning, a ‘Classical Kids’ concert.

For more details, see www.musicinmonkstown.ie

Sacconi Quartet